Why did you provoke me?

"Brother Hui, how should we divide this?" Yu Hai asked.

"Same as always, split it equally among the three of us. You can have mine first."

"Brother Hui, are you saving up to go to the martial arts school? How much are you short? If it's not too much, I can lend you some," Yu Hai said in a low voice.

"Grandpa won't agree. He said he's never been to a martial arts school in his life and he's doing just fine now."

"So what do you think? You can talk to your dad about this." Yu Hai was also worried for Xiao Hui. Of their group of friends, Xiao Hui was the only one who hadn't gone to the martial arts school yet.

"How about I lend you my share first, and you can pay me back when you have it later? You can talk to your mom about it," Yu Hai suggested to Xiao Hui.

The boy, thirteen or fourteen, was already quite tall. Xiao Hui stood there silently, head down, lost in thought.

Yu Meng pursed his lips. He had saved up a lot of money during this time, enough to force himself to go to a martial arts school to learn skills. But he just wouldn't take that step. When he went to the academy to learn calligraphy, he said he would go many times, but he still hadn't gone.

Seeing that his younger sister had already walked quite far, Yu Hai hurriedly called Xiao Hui to follow.

Whenever Yu Hai's friends got something, Yu Meng would reach out and help them peel off the layer of dough.

As for payment, she accepted whatever they offered without complaint. If they pleased her, she would come again next time. If they didn't, she wouldn't.

Yu Hai also figured out his younger sister's temperament. Therefore, he never called her people he knew she disliked.

Xiao Hui watched Yu Hai and his sister with envy from behind.

He also has younger siblings. But no matter how much he gives, his younger siblings have never lent a helping hand or said a word in his defense.

He had mentioned going to the martial arts school to his father. But his father said, "You're too old. You'll learn martial arts slowly and it will be very hard. It's better to wait until your younger brother goes to learn and let him teach you." But three years ago, he wasn't that old.

He knew that his parents and grandfather favored his younger brother. He really wanted to ask his father why his younger brother went to school to learn to read but didn't teach him. His father had said the same thing before.

Later, he overheard his father and grandfather talking and never mentioned it again.

From then on, he spoke even less, and whenever he sold the things he acquired, he would always give a portion of the money to Yu Hai.

Xiao Hui trusted Yu Hai and his sister very much. Yu Hai knew about his situation but rarely said anything, and his younger sister was also tight-lipped and rarely spoke.

In town. Jiang Mingfeng looked at Li Yifeng's attire and was speechless. "Young Master, the Cai Group requires work, which involves walking long mountain roads. You're dressed like this for sightseeing."

He wore a sharp suit and shiny leather shoes. He didn't even bring the most basic necessities like a water bottle or some dry food.

"Isn't it because you're here?" Li Yifeng's words immediately angered Jiang Mingfeng. "So what if I'm here? What can I do for you? You can't walk your own path. You can't climb your own mountain. You're wearing leather shoes, can you climb a mountain? And your suit trousers aren't even tucked in properly, what if insects get in?"

"Why are you getting angry? I just went for a walk. I didn't take any of their things, so of course I don't have to do any work," Li Yifeng said matter-of-factly.

Jiang Mingfeng, enraged, slammed a piece of paper in front of him. "Here, young master, write down everything you're about to say. Otherwise, if you get a minor scrape, my mother will beat me half to death."

Li Yifeng pushed the paper aside. "Cousin, it's not that serious."

"You'd better write this down, otherwise I won't take you there." Jiang Mingfeng's attitude was very firm.

He knows his mother all too well; when it comes to choosing between him and Li Yifeng, he will always be the poor, abandoned one.

Li Yifeng adjusted his glasses. "When did his little cousin become so smart?"

When they were little, he tricked Jiang Mingfeng quite a few times like this. Sigh, now that they're grown up, no one is so easily fooled.

In the end, Li Yifeng didn't go. His original intention wasn't to visit the group, but to use this incident to set Jiang Mingfeng up.

He just wanted to see Jiang Mingfeng, who was already so old, still get beaten by his mother. This would be his excuse to make fun of Jiang Mingfeng later.

Sister Xiu hasn't been idle these past few days. Through Mr. Zhou's introduction, she also joined a mining group. It's under the jurisdiction of the town's defense regiment.

Mr. Yu was very happy to hear this. It belonged to a militia group, and its members were reserves for the regular military. Their character and martial arts skills were impeccable.

Furthermore, Yu's mother had privately told Xiu-jie that if she found someone she liked, she could come back and tell them, and they would arrange for the two families to meet. Xiu-jie blushed and nodded in agreement.

Yu Meng felt a little melancholy. How would she avoid this wave of unwanted attention?

Just as it was time for dinner, Yu Hai rushed in, sweating profusely. He grabbed his father and pulled him outside. "Xiao Hui's family is fighting, and his grandpa and dad are going to beat him up."

Yu Meng quietly followed behind them. She also enjoyed this lively atmosphere. After all, entertainment was so scarce in this world.

The argument at Xiaohui's house attracted a lot of people. Some tried to persuade Xiaohui's father, while others scolded Xiaohui. The grandfather was also shouting curses, "If you bring this up again, I'll break your legs!"

Yu Meng watched all of this silently from behind. She suddenly felt fortunate; if she had been born into such a family, she didn't know if she would have lived to be 10 years old.

Meng understood what had happened. Xiao Hui wanted to go to the martial arts school in town to learn, but everyone in his family was against it, including his younger brother and sister.

Xiao Hui said he could use the money he earned to pay for his martial arts school tuition. This one sentence sparked a fight. "At such a young age, he already knows how to steal money! This is outrageous!" Grandpa, furious, started hitting Xiao Hui with his stick.

Xiao Hui's mother was also wiping away tears, saying that she had raised him for nothing all these years, and that he didn't know how to give money to his parents or help the family when he earned some, and even dared to hide money from them.

Xiao Hui stood beside him, tears streaming down his face. But he didn't say anything. He was just a big mouth.

Yu Meng turned and left. Didn't Xia Jie's family abandon her back then too? With so many children, there's always one who gets abandoned. It's not you, it's him.

She was used to choices made based on weighing the pros and cons.

When her father and Yu Hai returned, Yu Meng looked at them.

Yu Hai immediately understood what his little sister meant. "Little sister, let me tell you. Brother Hui was beaten terribly by his father and grandfather. I don't know why. Brother Hui neither ran away nor said anything. He just stood there and took the beating."

Mr. Yu sighed on the other end of the line. "That Xiao Hui probably knows about his own background."

Yu Hai and Yu Meng turned to their father at the same time. "Dad, what did you say?" Yu Hai's voice was a little shrill.